Imprisoned Heart
by SandXDemonX13
Summary: After ten years everything is ruined when Itachi finds out how his brother "truly" feels. Can he find out what happened to Sasuke while he was gone and fix everything? Or will drastic measures be taken to preserve the memory of feelings long forgotten?
1. Time that separated

Well hello everyone. If you all read _Wrong?_ then you all know that this is the sequel. If you haven't read it, then you might want to, because you might be a tad confused on somethings, but then again I suppose it's not overly important. Anywho, ages for this story are...Itachi, 28; Sasuke, 23. Everyone else goes along accordingly of course. Well, I hope you enjoy.

Rating: T, although I am thinking that the rating might very well be going up later.

Pairings: One-sided Itachi/Sasuke, one-sided Itachi/Hiroki(OC).

Warnings: Nothing really for this chapter, just mentions of shonen-ai and Uchihacest, which is INCEST. So if you don't like then please don't read.

Disclaimer: While I do not own Naruto I do own Ichijo Hiroki and Matsumoto Saniiro, both of whom will be in chapters throughout the story.

* * *

**Imprisoned Heart**

**Chapter one**

* * *

Ten years. Everyone thought that it had been a bit much, but they had not argued with Uchiha Fugaku when he sentenced his own son, Uchiha Itachi, to prison for committing incest. They had not argued because the clan head would not listen. He had had a set state of mind and he wasn't going to sway from it, and so Itachi was sentenced to ten years behind bars.

Uchiha Itachi was not dismayed by his sentence though because he knew that when he got out he would be going back to his brother; his love, Uchiha Sasuke, and they could finally be together.

It was two years before the end of his ten when he had heard the news: his father was dead. And Itachi thanked God, for he knew that the man had probably made his mother and Sasuke's lives hell after he was sent away. Itachi found the most amusing thing about it was that Fugaku had died of a heart attack in the bed of his lover; his male lover. It was amusing but Itachi was saddened by the news as well because he did not know how his mother was dealing with the whole situation.

It was a year later that Itachi had gotten his one and only visitor, Uchiha Mikoto, his mother. He had been glad to see that she was not depressed, and she had explained to him that she had known about Fugaku's affair for a very long time. The longer that they talked that day the more Itachi did not want his mother to leave, and the more he wanted to see Sasuke.

And then, _that_ news came from his mother: for the past nine years Sasuke had been seeing a psychiatrist because of their relationship. The news had angered Itachi greatly, but he had known years and years ago that it was going to happen and there was nothing that he could do about it. Soon after Mikoto had left and Itachi was alone once again, alone with the rest of the prison occupants.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"But what if—" Itachi held up his hand, cutting his cellmate off as he sat on his bed across from the man. "Whatever was about to come out of your mouth is not going to convince me," he said shaking his head as the man pouted.

"Will you just hear me out?" he asked. Itachi looked at his cellmate for a moment. "It's not going to work, but go ahead since I know you just like to hear yourself talk." The man opposite him smiled and laughed loudly as he nodded. "Well what if they brainwashed your brother. Then—" The blue-eyed man was interrupted by Itachi laughing.

"That's funny. You know I'm gonna miss your sense of humor, Hiroki," Itachi said to the man, Hiroki, as the black-haired man pouted again. "But... Itachi...!" Itachi looked at Hiroki for a moment before a playful smile broke out on his face. "Okay, look. What about this? When I get out tomorrow and go see my brother, if they have brainwashed him then I'll kill his psychiatrist and get put back in here and let you fuck me, all right?" Hiroki looked all excited and hopeful, wishing that his brainwashing theory was true.

"Really?!" Itachi's smile fell instantly and he gave Hiroki a serious look. "No," he deadpanned, making Hiroki give him a desperate look. "But..." Itachi just held his hand up before he lay back on his bed. "I'm leaving tomorrow and after that I will not be seeing you again, Hiroki," Itachi said, trying to make the man understand. "I'm going home; to my brother and that's that. So just let these feelings of yours for me go and you'll feel much better. You know that it's only a crush anyway."

Hiroki looked at Itachi for a moment before he stood from his bed and walked to Itachi's, sitting on the edge of it. "Itachi, it's not a crush... I mean at first it was...but," Hiroki trailed off and Itachi sat up, knowing exactly where this was going. "Let me make this easy. I don't love you. I love Sasuke and you know that," Itachi said and Hiroki nodded and looked down.

"I was just hoping..."

"You were just hoping that you could somehow get me to forget about my brother, the entire reason that I'm even here. So just forget about me and find someone else because you are never going to have me, Hiroki," Itachi said, his words sounding much more harsh than he had wanted them to. Hiroki just nodded once more before he looked up at Itachi and flashed him a smile. "I'm sorry, Itachi," he said with a shrug before he got up and walked back to his own bed, lying down on it and turning over a moment later so that he couldn't see Itachi.

Itachi stared at his friend for a few moments before he lay back down and stared at the ceiling in thought. He did feel bad that he had sounded so mean when he rejected Hiroki, but the man had known since Itachi had first arrived that he was in because of his relationship with Sasuke. Although Hiroki had always had a crush on him Itachi thought that it would never develop past that, but he had been wrong.

_You're very sweet, Hiroki. If my heart didn't already belong to Sasuke then perhaps I could've given it to you,_ it was his one thought as he closed his eyes, and it was a completely true thought. Itachi believed Hiroki to be one of the sweetest men he had ever met in his life, and one that got along with everyone. And even though he had never told the elder man this, he was actually very glad that they had met and had been sharing a cell together.

But something that everyone in the prison knew was that Itachi was ecstatic that his ten year sentence was up tomorrow.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Ten years. Everyone was sure that the youngest Uchiha was going to break during the time that his brother was away, but Sasuke never did. It was only a week after Itachi was sentenced to ten years in prison that Sasuke was sent to a psychiatrist four times a week so that he could be "cured of his illness," as Fugaku had put it.

For two years Sasuke went and he was not convinced that he did not love his brother as the psychiatrist tried to tell him. During those two years Sasuke visited Naruto every day and Sasuke had been just fine, since he knew that his brother was only in prison and not dead. And for the two years Sasuke was so hopeful and so happy that he would see his brother again.

It was sometime during the third year, nobody could exactly pinpoint when, that Sasuke began to change. He still visited Naruto and even Neji on the occasions when he couldn't find Naruto anywhere. The lovers were the first to realize that Sasuke wasn't himself, well Neji was really, but once he told Naruto, Naruto saw it as well. What tipped Neji off was that Sasuke had completely stopped talking about his brother, when that was all the raven-haired teen used to talk about.

It was the fifth year when Mikoto noticed her son's behavior as well and when she attempted to talk to him about it he just told her that he didn't know what she was talking about. Slowly everyone else realized how Sasuke was acting and began to question just what exactly was happening in his therapy sessions. There was nothing that anyone could do though as Fugaku was happy with his son's improvement and wanted the therapy to continue to make sure his son's "illness" would not come back.

Eight years after Itachi's sentencing, Fugaku died and Sasuke was then in charge of his therapy, but he didn't stop the sessions. Even when Naruto pleaded with him to stop the sessions because of how it had affected his behavior, Sasuke would not. He had only patted Naruto on the shoulder and told him that everything was just fine.

A year later when Mikoto went to visit Itachi in prison she asked Sasuke if there was anything that he would like her to tell Itachi, since the two were not allowed to see each other. Sasuke sat in thought for a moment before he just shrugged, telling her that he couldn't think of anything. Mikoto hadn't wanted to leave really, as she wanted to find out just what was wrong with her son, but she left, worried about Sasuke.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Now, Sasuke, since this is our last session, is there anything that you would like to go over for a final time?" The man across from Sasuke asked. Sasuke just shrugged, not really caring if they talked or sat in silence. "...Well, when you first began seeing me you claimed you were in love with your brother—" The brunette was about to go on, but Sasuke cut him off.

"You already know that it was just a phase, Saniiro-san. I can never love my brother more than a brother," Sasuke told him and Saniiro nodded with a small smile on his lips. His brown eyes looked Sasuke over for a moment. "Have you tried dating?" Sasuke nodded slightly. "Tried and I realized it just wasn't for me. I think I am better off single," Sasuke answered and Saniiro nodded again.

"Did you try dating women?" Saniiro asked. Sasuke stared at him impassively for a moment. "You know that I am not attracted to women whatsoever, Saniiro-san. So no, I did not." Saniiro nodded once again as he watched Sasuke stare at him. "Well I suppose that dating men is better than claiming you are in love with your brother, so I believe my work is done," Sasuke nodded, knowing that he was being dismissed.

He stood and was about to walk from the room but Saniiro's voice stopped him. "Your brother's being released tomorrow, am I correct?" Sasuke looked at him and nodded. Saniiro smiled lightly. "If your old feelings begin to return then come back and see me," he told Sasuke before the man nodded and left the room, heading to Naruto and Neji's.

**XxXxXxXxX**

"Sweetheart, your brother is going to be home tomorrow," Mikoto said, looking into Sasuke's room while the man was reading a book. Sasuke shrugged without looking away from his book. "I'll see him tomorrow then. Oh, and today was my last session with Saniiro-san," Sasuke said quite uncaringly. Mikoto was happy when she heard the news as she had wanted the sessions to end since they had started.

"That's great, honey," she said and Sasuke just shrugged again. She left after a few more moments and Sasuke put his book down. It had been ten years. Ten years and he was going to see his brother again. He found the whole situation laughable. Itachi went to prison because they claimed to love each other, when Sasuke found that he never really loved Itachi like he had said.

"...I guess Naruto and Neji are going to be coming over to see Itachi tomorrow," he said to himself before he picked his book up and began reading once again, looking forward to seeing his friends more than his brother.

**TBC...**

* * *

A/N: And that was chapter one. Yeah, big changes in their lives it seems... Hmmm, anywho, I hope you liked the chapter and I hope you review. Thank you.

SandXDemonX13

TTYFTDS


	2. Change

Well hello, this is, obviously, chapter 2. And just a quick note, which you can find on my profile. This summer I'm gonna be on vacation and so won't be able to update stories, although before I leave every chapter story is getting updated at least once. I'm not sure if this will get updated again, I hope but I'm not sure. So anyways.

Rating: T, although the rating might go up later.

Pairings: One-sided Itachi/Sasuke, Neji/Naruto

Warnings: A tiny bit of incest, implied shonen-ai and mentions of a past rape.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, obviously. I do, however, own Ichijo Hiroki and Matsumoto Saniiro.

* * *

**Imprisoned Heart**

**Chapter two**

* * *

Mikoto arrived at the prison the next morning and gave Itachi a change of clean clothes, telling him that the two of them would go out later and get him some more clothes. Itachi changed, grateful to be out of his prison clothing, and his mother led him out of the prison after he said his final good-bye to Hiroki.

They walked back to the compound slowly and in silence. Mikoto wanted to warn Itachi about Sasuke behavior. "Things have changed," she said quietly and Itachi looked over at her curiously. "What do you mean?" She looked around for a moment before she even thought about answering him. "Sasuke..." She couldn't finish her sentence, and Itachi smiled.

"I can't wait to see him," he said, happiness ringing clear in his voice. "He's twenty-three now... Wow, I hope that you told him happy birthday for me every birthday," Itachi said. Mikoto nodded. "Yes, of course, darling. But–"

Itachi cut her off, "I have really missed him so much..." Mikoto nodded once again, feeling horrible about what she had to tell her son. "Sweetheart, Sasuke has changed," her words were quiet and Itachi looked at her questioningly. "What do you mean?" Mikoto couldn't look at her son. "Sasuke doesn't feel the same about you anymore, dear." There was silence between them for several minutes.

"I'm sorry," she finally said. "No... No. No, you're wrong," he said, nodding, trying to convince himself of it. "He wouldn't just... No, of course not. He's just missed me is all," he told her, deciding that it had to be true. Sasuke wouldn't just stop loving him. Years ago his brother had told him that he had attempted to kill himself because he missed him so much, so Sasuke's behavior now must be totally explanable. The boy, no, man just must have missed him so much that he got depressed.

That was the only thing Itachi wanted to believe. He couldn't fathom his brother claiming that because it wasn't true. He hoped to God that it wasn't true. He didn't want for his ten years of love and devotion behind bars to have gone to a complete waste now that he was out.

Mikoto didn't answer her son and they walked the rest of the way to the compound in silence. The entire time Mikoto hoped that Itachi wouldn't be too devastated by Sasuke.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Thirty minutes later Itachi walked through the door of his home that he hadn't seen in over a decade. He smiled happily and kissed his mother on the cheek before he quickly walked off to find Sasuke. After quickly dropping his things off in his room he walked to Sasuke's room. He knocked on the door a few times but the younger man never answered, and Itachi began to feel a bit disappointed. A few moments later he opened Sasuke's door and peeked in, finding that his brother wasn't there.

His onyx eyes searched the room for a moment before he shut the door and walked back to find his mother. Once he got to the living room the front door opened and Naruto, Neji and Sasuke entered the house. Itachi didn't even give his brother a chance to shut the front door before he ran over and hugged the young man tightly. Sasuke looked at the wall over his brother's shoulder awkwardly and didn't hug the man back while Naruto's eyes went wide.

"Sasuke, I've missed you so much," Itachi said, pulling away from their embrace just a tiny bit to look at his brother. He smiled as he looked his brother over, seeing how beautiful the man looked. "You are still beautiful," he commented quietly and Neji's eyes widened as the brunette realized where this was about to head. The Hyuga's mouth opened and he was about to speak. He was about to tell Itachi that he shouldn't do it, but Itachi did it before Neji could speak.

Itachi placed his lips on Sasuke's in a gentle kiss and the younger man's eyes widened before he pushed his brother away from him. "What are you doing, Itachi?" he asked the elder, giving his brother a standoffish look. Itachi looked at Sasuke desperately. "What are you talking about, Sasuke?" Sasuke took a step back from Itachi, making sure that he had a good distance from his brother.

"Itachi, what I said years ago wasn't real, okay?" Itachi looked crestfallen. "...W-what...?" Sasuke opened his mouth to repeat his words but Itachi held up his hand to stop the younger from speaking before he stepped toward him. "...Sasuke, you... You said you loved me..." Sasuke stared into Itachi's eyes as the elder's eyes searched his desperately. "I was eleven, and you more or less manipulated me," he told Itachi, and the elder's jaw dropped.

"I didn't manipulate you, Sasuke... I was the one that pushed you away in the first place... What..." Itachi closed his eyes as he felt himself losing control of the emotions that he had been holding in for the past ten years. "Why are you saying this, Sasuke...?"

"I'm just telling you the truth. Don't touch me anymore, all right?" Itachi's eyes opened and he stared at the young man before him that still looked so much like the thirteen-year-old that had repeatedly told him that he loved him ten years ago. Itachi couldn't take it and before he could stop himself he brought his brother into his arms and kissed the man again. And again he was pushed away.

Sasuke gave him a stern look. "Don't touch me, Itachi. Don't touch me, don't kiss me, don't come near me. Go back to prison if that's what it takes to keep you away from me, or go out on another suicide mission, and this time do me a favor and die." The calm words that left Sasuke's mouth shocked Itachi greatly. Sasuke shoved him to the side and walked to his room.

Itachi just stood there, staring at the spot where his brother stood seconds before, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "He's changed, Itachi..." He recognized the voice of Naruto without having to look at the blonde. "...I can tell..." Itachi said quietly, trying to process what just happened. There was silence for many long moments. "What happened to him, Naruto...?" Itachi asked quietly, not knowing if he really wanted the answer to his question.

Naruto gently guided him over to the couch with Neji following behind, and he sat the Uchiha down, sitting down right next to him. "I don't exactly know..." Naruto told him truthfully, a touch of nervousness in his tone. Itachi's eyes closed and he shook his head lightly. "How long has he been like this?" It was something that he didn't want to know at all, but he knew that he had to get the answer. Naruto thought back for a moment. "The past seven years, give or take a few months," he told the elder.

Itachi didn't want to believe it. He simply didn't want to believe that his brother, his dear precious angel, didn't love him any longer. After everything that he had been through for Sasuke. After ten years in prison for their love... The man just turns him away. Something else that he didn't want to believe was that he hurt as bad as he did. Itachi hadn't thought that it was possible to want to rip your own heart out of your chest. Especially because of rejection of a love that he had held onto desperately for over a decade.

It was something he just couldn't understand. He couldn't understand why Sasuke was doing this to him, and he didn't understand why he hurt this much. But it made him think... Was this how Sasuke had felt all those years ago when he had attempted suicide? Was this how Sasuke had felt when he had turned his own back on their love? It hurt him to think that this was how his dear beloved might have felt, or even might have started to feel.

Several minutes passed in silence. Naruto looked toward the hallway and thought about Sasuke, but knew that his friend wouldn't care if he and Neji were spending time with him or not. After a few seconds he looked back at Itachi and decided to choose his words carefully. "Itachi, there is something else..." It was the hesitation in Naruto's voice that made Itachi look up at him after he opened his eyes. "What do you mean?"

Naruto glanced back behind him at his husband, who was standing right beside him. The blue eyes were full of worry. Neji couldn't say anything to ease his spouse's anxiety and so he only placed his hand on Naruto's back gently. The blonde sighed softly as he looked back at Itachi. "...Your father raped him..." The words were hard for Naruto to say, but they were even harder for Itachi to hear.

It was simple. He couldn't believe it. The logical part of his brain shut down when the words left the blonde man's lips and he simply couldn't believe what he had heard. There was no possible way in the world that his father, the man who had sent him to prison for ten years for committing incest, had raped his son, Itachi's brother, and therefore committed incest himself. And with the same person that Itachi had been imprisoned for. He couldn't believe it because he believed that there was no possible way that it had happened.

"...What?" He could hear himself, and he sounded dazed and confused. The hand that had never left his shoulder squeezed it gently. "Your father raped him, Itachi..." Naruto said again, and still Itachi did not want to believe it. He just couldn't. After a moment he shook his head slowly, trying to sort through everything. "...No..." It was the only thing that he could even think to say.

Then, suddenly, there it was. Clear as day. Anger. So much of it was flooding him that he thought that he would scream. He wanted to kill his father, no, that bastard of a man who had imprisoned him. That man was no father, he had lost that title so very long ago, and now as Itachi learned this it just reinforced his hatred for the man. Itachi wished to bring the man back from his grave just so he could kill him slowly for ever touching Sasuke.

The hundreds of horribly violent thoughts running through his head would have bothered anyone, and shaken many, but Itachi found solace in the thoughts. The gruesome and gory scenes that he was playing out in his mind calmed him for the moment as Naruto's hand fell from his shoulder to his leg. "...No..." This time it didn't sound as heartbreaking as it had before, but his heart was still broken, even more so now.

Itachi's heart was broken because Sasuke had rejected him, and wished him dead all in the same five minutes. But Itachi's heart was further broken because Sasuke had been hurt. He had been raped by Fugaku. Itachi heart was further broken by it, not only because his love was hurt, but because he had not been there to save Sasuke. He had been a missing link in Sasuke's life for ten years, and he was surprised to find Sasuke rejecting him?

There was only one question on Itachi mind as his thoughts finally came to a standstill for the moment. "When did it happen...?" It made his anger bubble up inside him even more as he thought about it, but he forced himself to push the anger away so that he could focus. Itachi watched Naruto as the blonde once again looked back at Neji, only for a moment, before he sighed deeply, not wanting to talk further on the subject.

"You have to understand, Itachi, Sasuke was fine for the first two years... He always talked about you, about how much he missed you and how much he loved you," Naruto paused for a moment and shook his head slightly. "And even how happy the two of you were going to be once you got out," he finished and Itachi felt like smiling. It made him feel wonderful that Sasuke had been like that, so happy and hopeful, while he was in prison. But it made him wonder even more, what had happened to his angel?

The hand on Itach's leg squeezed it lightly, seemingly involuntary. "It was after that... It was around the middle of the third year of your sentence that he told me what your father had done, and I was the only person that he ever told," Naruto said quietly as he looked down at the floor. "But then...it was sometime after that... He just stopped..." Itachi was slightly confused by what Naruto said. "What do you mean?" He asked, trying not to sound too demanding.

Naruto took his hand from Itachi's leg and ran it through his hair before he just laid it on his own leg. "I mean he just _stopped_," Naruto said, stressing the word. "Stopped talking about you. Everything that, truthfully, I had started to find a bit annoying because he wouldn't shut up about, I was starting to want to hear just to know that he was okay. It was like you just weren't a part of his life anymore after that..." Itachi was silent as the words sunk in, but even minutes after he could find nothing to say to the blonde.

"It wasn't like I never questioned him about it," Naruto finally said, making Itachi focus again on what was coming out of his mouth. "I did. The first time that I noticed it after Neji had told me that Sasuke was acting oddly, I asked him about it. I asked him why he had just stopped talking about you... And he just patted me on the shoulder and told me that everything was okay, that there was nothing to worry about anymore," Naruto explained.

"But after he told me that there was nothing to worry about, and especially now that you're out... I worry about him too much..." Naruto looked up and Itachi saw the tears building up in the blue eyes. "Something happened to my best friend and I have no idea what it is... How could he just tell me that there was nothing to worry about?"

Itachi felt sympathy for Naruto, he really did, but he couldn't sit here and make him feel better. That was what Neji was for. And Itachi had things that he had to find out, a brother that he desperately needed to speak with, and an ex-cellmate that he needed to go meet with.

**TBC...**

* * *

A/N: Mmm, okay, there's chapter 2. To be truthful, it's probably not my best, but still I like it because it does have it's moments. One day, when I'm not all busy writing on thirty-five different things at once, I might come back and fix it up, but who knows? Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. Thank you.

SandXDemonX13

TTYFTDS


	3. Showers and prisons

Well, okay... I know that this chapter took a little while to get up, but here it finally is! Wooo, I know, it's very exciting, right? ...Or maybe not, maybe it's just me... Hmm, but anyways, I'd just like to say that I don't know if I'll be updating this again before I go. I have an idea for the next chapter but I haven't started it yet, so I guess we'll just have to see, so if this doesn't get updated until the end of September then don't say I didn't warn you.

Rating: T, athough the rating might very well go up later.

Pairings: One-sided Itachi/Sasuke, Neji/Naruto, one-sided Itachi/Hiroki(OC)

Warnings: A bit of incest and implied shonen-ai.

Disclaimer: I so obviously don't own Naruto, but I do own Ichijo Hiroki and Matsumoto Saniiro.

* * *

**Imprisoned Heart**

**Chapter three**

* * *

Itachi paced; Itachi thought, and though he did so he didn't exactly know what to do first. Go talk with Sasuke or go see Hiroki? While he believed that it was a little crazy to go right back to the prison that he had just been released from, he had a need to go back so that he could speak with his friend. And he knew that Sasuke was more than likely going to just tell him to leave, so he was at a loss.

While Itachi was across the room pacing and thinking about what he was going to do Naruto and Neji sat on the couch together, Neji comforting his husband since Itachi couldn't find the time to and Naruto stuck deep in thought, worried about Sasuke. And both men were beginning to believe that if Itachi could somehow figure out what was wrong with the younger raven-haired man then everything would perhaps turn out to be okay, although Naruto had more hope then Neji did.

Suddenly, Itachi stopped his pacing as he made up his mind. He didn't give the other two in the room any explanation as he left quickly, heading right to Sasuke's room, attempting to think of what he would say to the man once he walked into his room. But as Itachi stood in front of the door he could think of nothing. His mind was blank as his eyes traveled down to the floor, making him begin to wonder if he should just turn around and go see Hiroki. A sigh broke from his lips as he shook his head, he had made up his mind and he knew he wouldn't leave until he had at least said something to his brother.

The door was quickly thrown open as Itachi opened his mouth to begin speaking...only to find that the room he had just entered was empty, no sign of Sasuke anywhere in it. Itachi began to worry; just where had his brother gone off to? Surely the man didn't hate him so much that he would sneak off and leave without even saying a word to Naruto, right? He didn't have much time to think about it though as he looked around the room in thought, catching the sound of running water after just a moment. Could he do it? He wondered idly for a moment before simply walking into their bathroom quietly, shutting the door behind him softly, and all without being noticed by the man in the shower.

Itachi, by this time, realized that all hopes at any sort of plan to talk to his brother were gone. It was a realization he made as he began to move, but he couldn't stop himself in time to just turn around and leave as quietly as he had come. No, because by the time he really realized it he had already pulled the shower curtain back some and stepped into the shower, to see Sasuke turned away from him and naked.

Itachi's next movements were quick, as he knew they had to be since Sasuke would realize any second that he was there. So he grabbed Sasuke and pinned him against the driest wall as gently as he could, so that they wouldn't be getting soaked, before he kissed him. Sasuke tried to shove him away but Itachi had his arms against the wall so that he couldn't, so Sasuke did the only other thing that he could think of at the moment. He brought his knee up hard into his brother's groin.

Itachi pulled away from him suddenly with a gasp, then a groan before he put his head on Sasuke's shoulder, trying to push the pain that he was feeling away. "I told you, don't touch me," Sasuke told him, his words bitter and harsh, before he pushed Itachi away from him, having made the man loosen his hold on his arms. Itachi was pushed under the warm spray of the water, soaking him and stunning him. Just a moment later he stumbled out of the shower, then the bathroom, leaving the way he had come.

A few minutes later, after he had stopped in the hallway to gather himself, he walked back into the living room. Naruto and Neji both looked at him, giving him odd looks when they saw him in soaked clothing. "What ha—" Naruto began to ask, but Itachi cut him off, "Don't ask," he said before he walked out the door to go see Hiroki.

**XxXxXxXxX**

Itachi sat at once of the tables waiting for a guard to bring Hiroki out so that they could talk. He had been sitting there so long that he was really beginning to wonder if the man was even going to come and see him, although he should have been used to waiting for long periods of time by now. He was just beginning to wonder about the man until he heard his friend's jibe at him, "and you told me that you were never going to see me again once you left today. What, you just couldn't resist my good looks?" Itachi rolled his eyes as Hiroki sat down across from him laughing. He didn't have time to joke around.

Hiroki looked him over after a moment. "Well, you still look the same as you did when you left, but... Why are you wet?" Hiroki placed his elbow on the table and rested his chin on his palm while smiling at Itachi. "It's a long story," was all Itachi said. Hiroki gestured around him with his other hand. "Trust me, I've got time," he joked. Itachi just looked at him for a moment before he shook his head. "I didn't come here to joke, Hiroki."

The thirty-five-year-old rolled his eyes dramatically and sighed loudly. "All right, all right, sheesh! What do you want then?" There was silence for a few moments before Itachi moved forward a little. "...What you said yesterday..." Hiroki's eyes lit up in excitement. "Oh, my gosh! Have you reconsidered?" Itachi shook his head and placed his hands on the table as Hiroki's excitement dissipated quickly. "I'm talking about what you said about Sasuke, Hiroki; stay with me now," Hiroki nodded slowly, trying to remember what he had said, but he couldn't remember anything that jumped out at him.

"Is there more to this brainwashing theory of yours...?" Itachi's voice was almost a whisper now as he spoke the question to Hiroki. Blue eyes showed understanding as he figured out what Itachi had been speaking about, although he still felt disappointed. "Ah, well... I mean, it's not impossible, you know." Itachi nodded as he looked down at the table. "It really would depend on how willing the subject is, I suppose... I mean, it would depend on that so that it could actually work," Hiroki told him, wondering just why Itachi was suddenly so interested in it. "...Why are you asking me about this, Itachi?"

There was no answer to the raven-haired man's question, and as silence began to stretch between them Hiroki decided that he'd best ask again. "Itachi, why are you asking me about this?" this time he sounded more demanding, but he still got no answer as Itachi stared at the table in thought. "What if the subject wasn't willing at all?" Itachi asked suddenly, catching Hiroki off guard a bit.

"Uh, well... I suppose that, in theory, it wouldn't work. Because if you brainwash someone...you're pushing them to behave differently, but if they truly don't want to...then I would guess that they wouldn't be effected..." Hiroki paused for a moment, his brain working faster than it had since he had been put in prison, "...Well... I mean..." Itachi looked up at him, curious about why the man didn't finish his sentence. "What?" the elder closed his eyes and shook his head, letting his hand fall and rest on the table.

"Well... I mean..." Hiroki made a difficult face as if he had a hard time understanding what he was even about to say, "They wouldn't be effected unless... But no..." he cut himself off to tell himself that it was impossible. "Nobody...nobody would go that far..." it was almost inaudible as Hiroki's blue eyes opened and stared off past Itachi in deep though. "What do you mean, Hiroki?" Itachi's anger was beginning to get the best of him when his friend wouldn't answer him, and so Itachi reached across the table and hit Hiroki's hand, getting the elder man's attention to focus once again. "What do you mean?" he asked, almost growling.

Hiroki's hand came up and touched his head gently. "Well, okay... They wouldn't be effected unless they had been put under some extreme distress or something... But...nobody would go that far... That's breaking another human for your own personal gain and...that's horrible," Hiroki told him quietly, making Itachi almost laugh when he heard how much faith the man had in people.

"Hiroki, someone would go that far, believe me," Itachi told him gently and Hiroki knew that it was true. "...Why did you come and ask me about this, Itachi?" Silence once again answer the man's question, but the silence was there for only a moment. "I believe that my brother may have been brainwashed," though Itachi had no evidence or anything near the sort to prove this, he just had a feeling, a horrible feeling that his friend's little theory wasn't as funny as it had been the night before. By some odd twist of fate...Sasuke was now denying their love, and the only thing that Itachi could blame it on was brainwashing.

Hiroki was the one who remained silent this time, but only for a couple seconds, "Are you going to leave him?" Itachi knew not to get mad at Hiroki for asking the question, for it was not asked to get Itachi for himself. Hiroki had asked because he knew that if it were actually true then there might be no way that Itachi would ever get Sasuke back. "Of course not, I love him and I'll make him see that he still loves me." Silence once again stretched and enveloped them as they both thought.

"I don't think it'll work...but I wish you luck," Hiroki said quietly before he stood and left, the guard that had accompanied him leaving as well. Itachi sat there after both men left, alone with the one guard that had accompanied him, and for minutes he continued to sit there in silence, wondering just what in the world he was actually supposed to do about what he thought had happened to Sasuke.

After a few moments the silver-haired guard that had accompanied Hiroki entered the room once again and walked to where Itachi was sitting. The guard put a slip of paper on the table across from Itachi. "Ichijo asked me to come back and give this to you," was all the guard said before he left once again. Itachi just stared at the slip of paper that was across from him for a few moments, wondering just what was on it. After staring at it for another minute he reached across the table and grabbed it, looking at the writing that he instantly recognized as Hiroki's.

_Go to his therapist, you might be able to find something out there... And once you come back to see me I'd like to hear about why you were soaking wet today._ A feeling began to settle in him after he read the words, a feeling of happiness he supposed, because Hiroki was telling him, though not directly, that he wanted him to be happy, even when the man no longer could be himself. When he stood up a moment later to leave he felt very grateful for his friend's advice.

**TBC...**

* * *

A/N: Well...that is...it pretty much... It took me months to attempt to get this halfway decent, and I still feel like it could be much better, so maybe once I get back from Washington I'll take this chapter and edit it up real good before posting the next chapter... But maybe I won't, it all depends on what you all think about the chapter, so drop me a review and tell me what you think. Thank you.

SandXDemonX13

TTYFTDS


End file.
